Category: MBA Application Tips

#52 How Adcoms Rate Your Career Goals

Hundreds of applicants have come to Touch MBA to get profile assessments and find their best fit schools. One of the most common problems we see is weak career goals. Career goals are important – and necessary – for you to figure out your best fit schools AND to improve your chances of acceptance. In…
Learning From Lebron: 4 Ways to Write All-Star Essays

Today Lebron James announced he is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Being a lifelong basketball fan, I was floored by his announcement. Being a former Admissions Director, I was more impressed by his “essay.” B-school applicants can learn a lot from how this piece is constructed. Here are 4 techniques you can learn from Lebron…
#51 Stalking the Story for Your MBA Essays

Who better to learn storytelling from than a two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner for dramatic nonfiction? This week Darren uses Jon Franklin’s Writing for Story as guidance for “stalking the story” and writing MBA essays that grip and reveal. Franklin pioneered the narrative nonfiction genre, and his book is full of gems for applicants struggling with…
#47 Great Applications for Business School with Paul Bodine

How would you like to grab coffee with one of the world’s most experienced MBA admissions consultants and pick his brain on what makes a successful application? This week I asked Paul Bodine, author of Great Applications for Business School, and owner of Paul Bodine Admissions Consulting, about his best advice to clients and admissions…
#46 Steve Dalton’s The 2 Hour Job Search: The 80/20 Formula to Target Employers & Secure First Interviews

Are you struggling with post-MBA career goals in your application? Top business schools are looking for well-researched and realistic career goals. But exactly how can you do this? Especially when you’re strapped for time? Steve Dalton, Senior Associate Director of the Career Management Center at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and author of the…
#40 MBA Application Tips for Younger Candidates

How can younger candidates compensate for their lack of experience? What are admissions committees looking for in younger candidates? Darren covers 5 tips to show you belong and will be a valued member of your MBA class.
#38 Is an MBA Worth it? MBA Arbitrage & Negotiating Up

Is it worth it to get an MBA if it’s not Harvard, Stanford or Wharton? Many candidates don’t think so. In this episode Darren talks about 5 arbitrages that exist in the MBA world. If you know what’s important to you, you can still “negotiate up” and get a great educational and life experience at…
#30 How to Improve Your Chances of Getting In

Over the past 6 months, I’ve had over 20 MBA Admissions Directors on the Touch MBA Podcast. I’ve asked all of them, “What would you advise candidates to improve their chances of admissions?” This is what they told me. Here are 10 actionable tips you can use right away to boost your admissions and scholarship…
#16 How to Demonstrate “Leadership Potential”

Darren discusses 3 ways to show “leadership potential” even if you are short on work and management experience. Listen on for specific and actionable ways you can show adcoms you have this crucial quality in your application.
Get Into a Top MBA! Talk in Ho Chi Minh

On March 2-3, I spoke to 30 students and recent graduates in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam about what top MBA programs are looking for and how they can prepare for the MBA application process now. My main point was, “Ask not what an MBA program can do for you, but what you can do for…
#6: 7 Deadly Sins of MBA Resumes

Your resume is often the first part of your application that MBA admissions officers see. Yet most candidates spend way more time preparing their essays. Avoid these “7 deadly sins” to make a strong first impression with your resume. The 7 deadly sins: 1. Too long 2. Hard on the eyes 3. Emphasizes the wrong…
#5: Ace Your Interview by Answering the “Questions Behind the Questions”

With the MBA interviewing season fast upon us, Darren discusses the 4 “questions behind the questions” that admissions officers really want to know. If you can prepare compelling responses to these key questions, you stand a good shot of making the final cut. Listen on for more insider tips and techniques to ace your interview.…
#4: 4 Ways to Get and Keep the Adcom’s Attention

Capturing your reader’s attention is the most important goal of your MBA application. You want the admissions officer to remember you after reading 20 applications that day. The longer you can keep his or her attention (in the right way!), the better your chances are of landing an interview. In this episode, we take the…
#3 6 Ways to Make Your MBA Application Stick

In this episode, we take the core principles from the marketing classic Made to Stick, and discuss how to use them to create a memorable MBA application. Your MBA application is a “movie preview” of what’s to come – a pitch for your candidacy. Imagine an admissions officer reading hundreds of applications. How can you get…